China tobacco monopoly pushes back on smoking curbs

December 1, 2014 9:30 AM

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BEIJING (Reuters) - The chief of China's powerful tobacco monopoly on Monday pushed back against government efforts to curb smoking, a habit the World Health Organization says accounts for as many as a million deaths a year.

In an interview with the Study Times, controlled by the ruling Communist Party, Ling Chengxing, director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, said controls on tobacco should not take an "absolutist" or "expansionist" direction.